1. The Hidatsa rushed eagerly into hail storms and gathered hail stones to cool their tepid Missouri River drinking water.

2. She quickly became assimilated to the Hidatsa culture and learned to speak their language.

3. There were cuts of buffalo just as there are of beef; the Hidatsa had names for twenty-seven different cuts.

4. She therefore grew up culturally affiliated with this tribe; her name is taken from the Hidatsa phrase for "Bird Woman".

5. However, at about the age of 12, she was kidnapped by a raiding group of Hidatsa Indians, and taken to their village.